PARSIPPANY, NJ: Reckitt Benckiser has expanded its relationship with Porter Novelli, bringing the agency on as US AOR for sexual wellbeing brand Durex.

Porter, which has worked with Reckitt Benckiser since 2004, was initially hired in March to amplify Durex's The Liberating Side of Being Together campaign. The effort focuses on helping couples explore intimacy, said Alan Marcus, SVP at the firm and lead on the account.

After seeing Porter's success promoting the campaign, Durex named the firm AOR, he added. The AOR relationship officially began about two weeks ago.

The agency also works on Reckitt Benckiser's corporate and employee branding efforts, as well as on its Finish, Woolite, and Resolve brands.

Porter has worked with Durex in China for the last two years.

About 18 months ago, Durex worked with Lippe Taylor. It is understood that the relationship ended because the brand wanted to focus more on advertising than PR.

Lippe Taylor CEO Maureen Lippe said in a statement that Durex is “a great brand with very innovative new products, and we had a lot of fun working with them. It's such a fun and important category.”

Representatives from Durex were not immediately available for comment.

Led by Porter's New York office, the firm will work on media and influencer relations for the brand, as well as messaging and brand positioning, said Marcus.

He added that the agency will focus on engaging lifestyle press, along with some health and wellbeing media.

“Our goal is to help put this brand on the map in the US in as big of a way as possible and help it realize its potential, because globally it's one of the leading sexual wellbeing brands and we think there is tremendous upside and opportunity here in the US,” explained Marcus.